Today, the consuming public is becoming ever more concerned about the use of preservatives in foods, confections and beverages. These preservatives fall into the category of chemical antioxidants and include butylated hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisole which have been used in gum bases and chewing gum containing same. Accordingly, a method for producing gum base or a food item, confection or beverage of increased storage life which method has decreased dependence on chemical antioxidants would be a long-awaited advance in the food preservation art.